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SUMMER PEACH AND TOMATO PANZANELLA

August 8th, 2012

Remember when I made a fresh and spring-y panzanella and I told you about my sheer and ridiculous-silly love for the classic, summertime version? Well, I’ve got a warm weather one here for you with a couple of non-traditional (but incredibly delicious) elements like chopped kale, shaved shallots, peaches and my new fave: white balsamic vinegar. Yum-city for real. It’s the salad you make when you wanna win friends. Or just when you wanna win. Period.

If you want to go full-stop classic on this dish, you can check out my no-fussin’ version on Joanna Goddard’s blog this week. I’ve been reading A Cup of Jo for as long as I’ve known that blogs actually exist I think, so when Shoko asked me to contribute a recipe for Joanna’s “The best ________ you’ll ever have” recipe series, I was pretty floored/so excited to expand even more on my love of panzanella. It’s a two-for-one kind of deal today.

As a first-time addition here, my wonderful friend Joe (check out his website!) has made a really fun video and shot the pictures for this recipe too. We had a great time harvesting the goods, cooking it all up outdoors, enjoying a couple of cold beers and whatnot, so I hope you get the sense of that when you watch. My friends TK and Lesley made an ORIGINAL SONG for it too! Guh, heart is super full just thinking about that. You can listen to it again and again on the Make Haste Soundcloud page right here. So grateful to have such talented and kind friends, seriously. Luckiest gal. When a community of generous creatives comes together, it is the best thing. Super smiles. In addition to that, they produce some pretty stellar individual/other work. You can check out Lesley’s talent on the Bad Passion homepage (also featured on Turntable Kitchen’s April 2012 mix!). TK’s work can be found here: Stone Orchard and on his Bandcamp page.

Happy summer to you all. Make some panzanella and soak up that beautiful sun :)

summer panzanella with peaches, tomatoes and kaleserves: 6notes: I opt for white balsamic vinegar because it doesn’t impart a dark colour onto the bread. Feel free to use the darker, regular balsamic vinegar if that’s what you have though. The flavour is quite similar.

Place the tore up bread on a large, parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat bread evenly in the oil. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping croutons at the halfway point to promote even browning. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Place the chopped tomatoes, peaches, kale and basil in a large bowl. Drizzle the oil and white balsamic vinegar on top and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Add the cooled croutons and toss once more.

Let this mixture sit for 10 minutes or so so that the bread can soak up the juiciness from all the veggies and fruit. Serve with a big sprig of basil on top if you like.

Laura, you rule! I love how casual and natural you are when you’re cooking and this video really shows that, and an original song?! Super cool. I have been putting peaches in my salads all summer, but haven’t tried them in panzanella. I think I’ll just have to give this a go. Congrats lady!ReplyCancel

I’m pretty much in love. Not only do I want to move to your house immediately, but I’m dying to have this for lunch now. Great job on the video and big, big congrats on the Cup of Jo feature! You must come visit SF soon! xoReplyCancel

I am SOOO Gitty!!! I cannot believe I have not been here before, nor seen any of your beautiful videos! Honestly, can I have your life? Being city-bound, there is nothing, absolutely nothing more appealing than picking your own fruit, pulling up your own vegetables…. and KALE, and then making it into this wonderful, delicious Salad!!! Yay :) I have a big family event next week, and this is perfect! Thank you, Your New Biggest Fan! big hugs for my fellow kale lover.ReplyCancel

love it! the song is an instant summer classic (it somehow already has the feel of memory to me, like it is familiar … love it). and the energy that comes through the screen, of friends collaborating and the pure joy of a summer meal together, is as delicious as the panzanella looks. Beautiful beautiful beautiful. Thanks for sharing – and thanks to your talented collaborators as well.ReplyCancel

[…] We promise this is no ordinary salad. This past summer, we found the most amazing recipe for a summer panzanella salad from The First Mess that deliciously pairs sweet summer peaches and tomatoes. My mom, (Karen) grew up next to a peach […]ReplyCancel

[…] you like, just can’t forget the goodness of the crusty bread. Check out some inspiration here, here, here and here. I even found a couple sweet panzanella recipes. Oh yeah, I’m going […]ReplyCancel

[…] boring. Until now! I was perusing one of my favourite blogs, The First Mess, and came across this beauty of a recipe. Truth be told, I hadn’t heard of panzanella until I read this blog post a few days ago. What […]ReplyCancel

Julie De Meester24/09/2015 - 7:55 am

I make this so often. Made it last this July in Venice with peaches and tomatoes from the Rialto Market. It’s a crowdpleaserReplyCancel

[…] A Summer Panzanella from The First Mess: “Panzanella” is a fancy term for bread salad (yes, life is that good). This summer panzanella, which I plan to make for as long as I can get fresh tomaotes, basil, and peaches, might just be the best bread salad in existence. […]ReplyCancel